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The Knickerbocker Toy Co., founded in 1927, is undoubtedly best known for its Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, which it produced from the early 1960s through the 1980s. The company made many other cloth dolls during its long history, including Disney characters such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, cartoon characters such as Little Lulu, Little Orphan Annie and the Flintstones, and girl dolls with molded faces similar to the ones produced by Georgene and Mollye. The company also produced some wonderful composition dolls including the characters from the comic strip Blondie, Disney’s Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Holly Hobbie was a big seller for Knickerbocker in the 1970s, in both cloth and vinyl versions. Knickerbocker was bought out by Hasbro in 1983, but they continued to produce dolls under the Knickerbocker name, including the wonderful line of Magic Attic vinyl play dolls designed by Robert Tonner in the 1990s. In 2001, Marie Osmond and her husband purchased Knickerbocker and changed its name to Marian LLC. That company later became part of Charisma Brands.

This is a very partial list. Click on a small photo to see a larger version.

Knickerbocker’s Snow White doll is all composition, with molded black hair. Her satin dress has a velveteen bodice. The 7 Dwarfs are dressed in velveteen outfits, and have mohair beards. Photos courtesy of Lisa Hanson. Check out her eBay listings.

Pinocchio‘s composition arms and legs are molded to look like jointed wood. Photos courtesy of Lisa Hanson. Check out her eBay listings.

The cloth versions of the 7 Dwarfs have velveteen outfits that are part of their bodies, and molded mask faces. The doll on the left may have a replaced beard. Photo courtesy of Withington Auction, Inc.

Knickerbocker began producing Raggedy Ann and Andy in 1963. This pair dates to 1964. Photos courtesy of Lisa Hanson. Check out her eBay listings.

Bedtime Raggedy Ann and Andy wear flannel pjs and nightie instead of their usual outfits. Their printed eyes are safer for babies. They were made starting in 1979. Photos courtesy of Paul Muhlbach. Check out his eBay listings.

Beloved Belindy is another character from the Raggedy Ann stories. The Knickerbocker version doesn’t resemble Johnny Gruelle’s original illustrations very much though. Photo courtesy of Paul Muhlbach. Check out his eBay listings.

In 1973, Knickerbocker made a series of miniature rag dolls of cartoon characters, including Nancy and Sluggo. Photos courtesy of Sandy Blaine. Check out her eBay listings.

Flintstones characters Fred, Wilma, Barney, Betty, Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm were also part of the Miniature rag dolls series. Photos courtesy of Dennis Mah. Check out his eBay listings.

The Floppy Sox dolls from 1974 are made to look like homemade sock dolls. There was a boy and girl doll made.

Holly Hobbie and her friends were made in several sizes in the mid-70s. Vinyl versions were made too. Photos courtesy of Sandy Blaine. Check out her eBay listings.

The Cowpokes dolls, copyrighted 1981, are a cute Western-themed boy and girl. Read more on the Cowpokes page.

Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock from Star Trek were made in 1979, with vinyl heads and cloth bodies. No other characters from the series were made. Photos courtesy of King Auctions. Check out their eBay listings.

Peanuts character Snoopy and his sister Belle were made as 8″ all vinyl fashion dolls in the early ’80s, with extra outfits available. Snoopy was always accompanied by his little sidekick, Woodstock. Photos courtesy of Dennis Mah. Check out his eBay listings.

The 5″ vinyl version of Snoopy (with Woodstock) has Astronaut, Chef and Sport playsets. Photos courtesy of Sandy Blaine. Check out her eBay listings.

Missy, Mindy and Mandy are the Moppets – small, all-vinyl dolls produced by Knickerbocker in 1981. All-vinyl Baby Moppets were made as well. The Sugar Cone Baby Moppets have vinyl heads and cloth bodies.
Photos courtesy of Dennis Mah. Check out his eBay listings.

Dolly Pops from the late ’70s – early ’80s are one piece plastic dolls with rooted hair. The dolls “pop” in and out of their playsets, and their one-piece plastic outfits “pop” on and off. Photos courtesy of Dennis Mah. Check out his eBay listings.

Knickerbocker made Annie dolls as a tie-in to the 1982 movie starring Aileen Quinn as Annie and Albert Finney as Daddy Warbucks. Cloth and vinyl versions of Annie were made in multiple sizes; other characters from the film were made about 6″ tall in vinyl, and as 2.75″ miniatures.

Kenner Products was founded in 1947 by the Steiner brothers in Cincinnati, Ohio, and quickly became successful with their toys. Their success continued through the fifties and sixties, with introductions like the Easy Bake Oven and Spirograph. The company was purchased by General Mills in 1967. In the ’70s, Kenner got into the doll business. They continued to make dolls throughout the decade, but by the 1980’s were concentrating more on action figures, including the Star Wars line, which was their biggest success story. In 1985, General Mills spun off Kenner and Parker Brothers into a new company, called Kenner Parker Toys. Two years later it was acquired by the Tonka Corporation, which split Kenner Products and Parker Brothers back into separate divisions. In 1991, Kenner became part of the world’s largest toy company when Tonka was purchased by Hasbro. They continued to produce high quality dolls during this period. In 2000, Hasbro shut down the Kenner division and merged its product lines together. Although they still produce some of Kenner’s products, including Baby Alive, the Kenner name is no longer used.

These are some of the dolls and action figures made by Kenner. Click on a photo to see a larger version.

Gabbigale is an 18″ talking doll with a battery-operated recording mechanism. When you raise her arm, pull the string and talk to her, she records what you say. When you lower her arm and pull the string, she repeats it back to you. Copyright 1972.
Photo courtesy of Martin Auction Co.

Baby Alive was hugely successful for Kenner. While there are many drink-and-wet baby dolls, Baby Alive is the rare “eat-and-poop” model. She is battery operated with a chewing mechanism. She was sold throughout the ’70s and a new version was produced in 1990. There were both black and white models made. Baby Alive is still being made in an updated version by Hasbro.

Crumpet, copyrighted in 1970, is a 19″ pullstring, battery operated mechanical doll who pours tea and serves cookies. She has long straight blonde hair and blue sleep eyes, and was sold complete with her table and tea set.

Madcap Molly, advertised in 1971, is an unusual wind-up walking doll described as “the do-it-all dolly.” She is 12″ tall and came packaged with a shopping cart, scooter and skis. Molly’s construction is hard to describe: her head, arms and legs are flat plastic while her torso is more three-dimensional.

Garden Gal is a series of three dolls: blonde Skye, Brunette Meadow, and Willow, a redhead. They came packaged with flower seeds, two plastic pots, peat discs and watering can. The dolls, from 1972, have white molded boots on their feet.

Betty Crocker was a lithographed cloth advertising doll sold with baking utensils. She is 13″ tall with huge brown eyes, and her gingham dress and white apron with the Betty Crocker logo are removable. She has brown yarn pigtails in addition to her fabric hair. Dated 1974.

Blythe was introduced in 1972. She is a very unusual 11″ fashion doll with an oversized hard plastic head. By pulling the string at the back of her head, her eyes will close, and reopen a different color! Her eyes can be blue, green, brown and pink by turns. Blythe came with a variety of hair colors, either with bangs or in a side part style. Her vinyl body is the same or similar to that used for Hasbro’s World of Love dolls. Many extra outfits were sold for Blythe, and there were wigs in wild colors available too. In the past few years Blythe has become very popular, particularly with Japanese collectors, and Blythe dolls have been reproduced by Ashton-Drake and by Takara in Japan.
Photos courtesy of eBay seller your-favorite-doll.

Jenny Jones and Baby John are a mother and baby set of dolls produced in 1973. Jenny is 9″ tall and her drink-and-wet baby is 2.5″. They were sold with a crib and accessories. There were also separate outfits and nursery furniture available for them.
Photo courtesy of eBay seller your-favorite-doll.

Dusty has been called one of the ugliest fashion dolls ever made. While this may be unfair, it’s safe to say that she is not a “girly” doll. Her niche was that she was an active sports-minded girl, busy with tennis, golf, skiing, swimming and other fun activities. Dusty has platinum blonde hair in a shag cut, a tan complexion and a big smile. She is 11.5″ tall and jointed at the waist. Most dolls have bendable arms and jointed wrists, but there were some dolls made with straight arms. These were sold for $1.99 with the trade-in of any old doll. Dusty had separate outfits available for many different sports. She also had a black friend named Skye. While Dusty and Skye are the same height as Mattel’s Barbie, they have a stockier build, and Barbie’s clothes will not fit them.

Nancy Nonsense is an 18″ pullstring talking doll from 1974. She has blonde hair in pigtails and painted blue eyes with lashes.

Baby Yawnie is a 14″ baby doll from 1974 with a stuffed cloth body; when you squeeze her hand she yawns and closes her eyes by means of a bellows mechanism. Black and white versions were made.

Steve Scout (white doll) and Bob Scout (black doll) from 1974 are 9″ action figures that wear official Boy Scouts of American uniforms. There were several Adventure Sets and accessories sold for them.
Photo courtesy of Martin Auction Co.

The Six Million Dollar Man, and The Bionic Woman were popular TV shows in the ’70s, and Kenner’s dolls of the main characters, Steve Austin played by Lee Majors, and Jaime Summers, played by Lindsay Wagner, were big hits. The company also produced dolls of Oscar Goldman (Steve Austin’s boss), Maskatron (his robot enemy) and Fembot (Jaime Summer’s robot enemy), as well as playsets and extra outfits for Steve and Jaime.
Photos courtesy of eBay seller your-favorite-doll.

Stretch Armstrong is unique. He is 15″ tall, but has a latex rubber body that can be stretched to several times its size. Inside is a gel made from corn syrup that helps keep the stretched-out shape for a short time. He was first issued in 1976, but was reissued in the ’90s with his dog, Fetch.
Photos courtesy of eBay seller your-favorite-doll.

Kenner had the first license to make Star Wars action figures, which they did from 1977 to 1985, and in doing so, popularized the 3.75″ figure which became an industry standard. They made over 100 unique figures and sold more than 300 million of them worldwide. Pictured at left are the Stormtrooper and Chewbacca from 1977.

Darci is a 12.5″ fashion doll from the late ’70s with a fashion model theme. She had two friends, Dana and Erica, and many extra outfits. Although Darci is beautiful and well-made, the fact that she couldn’t share clothes with Mattel’s more popular Barbie doll, spelled her doom. Darci was made as a blonde, brunette and redhead. She has jointed wrists, which are unusual in a doll of this size.
Photos courtesy of eBay seller your-favorite-doll.

An International Velvet doll was produced in 1979 as a tie-in to the movie starring Tatum O’Neal. Ms. O’Neal is pictured on the box, but her name is not mentioned and the doll doesn’t resemble her. The doll wears white riding breeches and an ascot, with a black jacket, boots and hat. She is 11″ tall with long blonde hair.

The Sea Wees are 4″ mermaid dolls with a copyright date of 1979. They have one piece bodies, jointed only at the neck, and long rooted hair. Pets and babies were made for them.

Strawberry Shortcake and her many friends have been made by a few different companies under license from American Greetings. The first doll versions were made by Kenner in the 1980s. The most common are 5.5″ vinyl scented dolls. They had extra outfits and accessories. A 16″ rag doll version was made as well. She has yarn hair and her bonnet is attached to her head. In the ’90s Strawberry Shortcake was made by Toy Headquarters, Inc. The line is now produced by Hasbro.
Photos courtesy of eBay seller your-favorite-doll.

Glamour Gals is a series of 4″ fashion dolls with non-removable clothing, made in the early 1980s. There were several different dolls sold in a variety of outfits. In addition to the regular line, there was also a line of dolls wearing jewelry, and a line that came with accessories. They also had a Showplace Case, a car, and even a cruise ship.

After the movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark” came out, Kenner had the first license to make tie-in toys. This Indiana Jones doll is 12″ tall. He can be considered a celebrity doll as well, because the box features a photo of actor Harrison Ford. They also made a line of 3.75″ action figures which included several characters from the film, including Belloq, pictured at left.
Photos courtesy of eBay seller your-favorite-doll.

Rose Petal Place dolls, made in the mid-80s, are 6″ doll with a fantasy flower theme.

Hugga Bunch, copyright 1985, was a strange line of plush toddler dolls, like a cross between a doll and a stuffed animal. They came with smaller baby dolls for them to hug.

Always Sisters are three families of three sisters each. There is a blonde family, a brunette family and a redhead family, with each having a 14″ baby sister, an 18″ middle sister and a 22″ oldest sister. They have vinyl heads and hands with cloth covered posable bodies. Each doll was sold separately, and they had extra outfits.
Photos courtesy of eBay seller dreamalong.

Special Blessings from 1988 are a line of Christian-themed dolls with hands in praying position. They have vinyl heads, soft cloth bodies and big painted eyes that glance upward.

Hey Vern It’s Ernest! is a talking doll Kenner made in 1989, in the likeness of fictional character Ernest P. Worrell, as portrayed by actor Jim Varney. Ernest’s career began in television commercials, then he got his own series and starred in several feature films as well. The doll is 16″ tall and is a pull string talker.

A talking Beetlejuice doll was made that same year, in the likeness of actor Michael Keaton.

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch was a 1990s tie-in to the popular TV show starring Melissa Joan Hart. She is a 10″ fashion-type doll, and was sold along with her cat, a rabbit and hat, and book of magic spells. There was also a Bedtime Sabrina, who according to the packaging, could “magically levitate” from her bed.

Babysitters Club, from 1993, is a line of 18″ dolls that tied in to the popular series of chapter books for girls.

Little information is available on this company. They made a variety of vinyl dolls, including high-heeled glamour dolls, babies and toddlers, starting about 1960, and continuing into the ’70s. The company apparently had some business arrangement with Nasco as well as Jolly, as dolls marked “Kaysam” have been found in Jolly and Nasco boxes.

Kaysam glamour dolls were made in 15″, 20″ and 24″ sizes. They have a unique face that is easily recognizable once you have seen a few of them, with a long neck. They have a slim body which is more like Mattel’s Barbie than like other glamour dolls their size. Learn more about the doll pictured at left here. Photo courtesy of Sheryl Schmidt.

Hello Dolly (1964) is a 20″ high-heeled adult figured glamour doll. She has variegated strawberry blonde hair, and wears a long slim gown with a design of flocked glitter on the front panel, and a feathered headband. She is meant to look as Carol Channing did in the Broadway show; but it is not a portrait of the star. A regular doll from the line was used, marked 1961. There was also a Barbie-sized version of this doll, but she was made by Allied-Grand.

The glamour dolls marketed under the Jolly Toys name look more like Ideal’s Revlon doll and other late fifties high heeled dolls. Learn more about this doll here.

Judy is an 11″ all vinyl bent leg baby doll. 1963.

Jean is an 11.5″ toddler, who appears to have been made with the same head as Judy. 1963.

Robin is a toddler doll with straight platinum blonde hair with bangs. She wears a white jumper with red, white and blue striped blouse, white socks and red shoes. Her box is red, white and blue striped to match.

This 16″ Nurse came packaged in a gift set with a nurse’s bag, hypodermic needle (way out of scale) and bandaids, plus a cocktail dress and stole with corsage. The same doll was also sold in a different gift set wearing a pants outfit. 1963.

Cutie-Pie is another platinum blonde toddler.

Jinx is a knockoff of Vogue’s Brikette doll. She is 21″ tall with carrot red or black hair and a watermelon smile.

Swiss Miss and Swiss Lad were made as advertising tie-ins to Swiss Miss Cocoa. They are each 14″ tall. Swiss Miss is marked “Jolly Toys Inc. 1962″. A cloth Swiss Miss doll was produced in 1978, but probably by a different company. Photos courtesy of eBay seller myoldkentuckyhome.

Pride is a 6.5″ (Dawn-sized) fashion doll with long straight hair, who came packaged with an outfit. Packages containing two outfits (no doll) were also sold separately.

Grandma is 20″ tall, with a high-heeled glamour body, but an older lady’s face with gray hair. She has been found in Jolly marked boxes as well as Royal boxes, with the name Grannykins. These companies may have been related. A very rare Grandpa doll was made as well. For more info, go to the Grandma page.

Nikki is 12″ tall, platinum blonde and has an unusual expression with a puckered mouth. She looks like she is about to say something. She was sold in various outfits and hairstyles.

Golden Book Dolls is a series of dolls representing characters from Little Golden Books, each doll was packaged together with a book. Heidi is 14″ tall with blonde hair and a Swiss style outfit similar to that worn by Swiss Miss but with golden lacing on the front of the vest, and her blue skirt is a plain, not print fabric. Other dolls in the series were Hansel and Gretel (sold separately), Cinderella, Nurse Nancy, Little Red Riding Hood and My Dolly and Me.

12″ Bride doll has dark brunette hair and has painted side-glancing eyes. She somewhat resembles Horsman’s Mary Poppins doll. She wears a satin and lace dress and carries a white rose bouquet. Her head piece has white flowers and a tulle veil.

Small Stuff is an unusual 14″ girl doll with big pouty cheeks, a tiny red mouth, and blonde or brunette hair rooted on the top of her head only. The rest of her “hair” is just painted on. She wears a red and white print dress with a white bib, trimmed with white lace and black rickrack. She wears black stockings and shoes and has a straw hat with red ribbon. She probably came in other outfits as well. Both black and white versions of Small Stuff were made. Marked 1960.

Ricki has wild orange hair in two braids, a big goofy smile and freckles. I suspect she is meant to resemble Pippi Longstocking. She wears a strange outfit that is half plain white fabric, and half red-and-white check (stitched together down the middle).

Miss Renee is a 19″ glamour doll marked 14R, similar to Ideal’s Revlon Doll. A 10.5″ version was also sold to compete with Little Miss Revlon.

Raggedy Ann and Andy Ventriloquist dummies were made in 1973. They are 29″ tall and have plastic shoulder heads and hands with foam rubber bodies. There is a pull string at the back of the neck to make the movable jaw open and close.
Photos courtesy of Paul Muhlbach. Check out his eBay listings.

Wonder Skin Baby Doll was advertised in 1947.

The company also made a 24″ black girl doll with frosted hair; an “Eskimo” doll dressed in fur; a 24″ glamour doll with blue hair; 30″ and larger companion dolls; and an infant knockoff of American Character’s Baby Dear.

The Ideal Toy Corporation had a long and illustrious career in the doll business, beginning in the early years of the 20th century and continuing into the 1980s. They produced dolls in composition, cloth, rubber, hard plastic and vinyl. The industry’s best designers, including Bernard Lipfert, Joseph Kallus, and Neil Estern, worked for Ideal at various times. Fortunately for collectors, most Ideal dolls are marked. For more information on the company’s history, read Judith Izen’s wonderful book, “Collector’s Guide to Ideal Dolls.”

Before she started in the doll business, Mary Hoyer was a designer of knit and crochet patterns for children’s clothing. In the 1930’s, she opened her own yarn and craft shop in Reading, PA. Soon she added doll clothing and patterns to her inventory. To create a market for her doll designs, she purchased composition dolls from Ideal to sell along with the patterns. These dolls were 13″ tall with a double jointed torso known as a “body twist.” These early painted-eye dolls have Ideal markings. Photo courtesy of Nancy McKee.

When Ideal discontinued the style of doll she had been using, Mrs. Hoyer hired renowned doll designer Bernard Lipfert to sculpt a doll for her. Lipfert’s design, manufactured by the Fiberoid Doll Co., was slightly bigger at 14″ tall and also had painted eyes, but did not have the jointed torso. The earliest dolls are unmarked, but soon the Mary Hoyer logo in a circle was added to the back of the doll. Dolls with sleep eyes were also added to the lineup. The same model was used for both girl and boy dolls. Photos copyright Withington Auction, Inc.

In 1946 Mary Hoyer switched from composition to hard plastic dolls, using the same design. She continued to market her knit and crochet patterns, and sold finished outfits and sewing kits in her shop as well as by mail order. Photos courtesy of Nancy McKee.

In the mid-fifties, Mary Hoyer decided to branch out by adding other dolls to her line. The first was Gigi, an 18″ hard plastic girl. She has the same markings as the 14″ doll, and several outfits available for her. Photo courtesy of Nancy McKee.

The company then decided to try vinyl dolls; they marketed high-heeled glamour dolls that were reportedly made for them by Ideal. The larger sizes were quickly discontinued, but they sold 10.5″ Vicky (similar to Ideal’s Little Miss Revlon) for a couple of years. The glamour dolls are unmarked and very difficult to identify. Margie, a 10″ vinyl toddler, and babies Cathy (10″) and Jamie (8″) were also offered.

The company had continued to sell its 14″ hard plastic doll throughout the fifties, but in the early sixties, they switched to a new vinyl doll called Becky. Mary Hoyer retired in 1972, but her company was resurrected in 1990 by her granddaughter, Mary Lynne Saunders. They continue today making high-quality play dolls for children and collectors. Mrs. Hoyer passed away in 2003 at the age of 101.

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